pre-requisite--how strict they are?

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Dear all,

I would really appreciate your advice on my special case...

My undergrad was taken in a oversea college (english speaking), so all my pre-med courses are considered non-US. But I have a health-related master degree in a top U.S university. I realized this is a problem, so I have retaken 1-year of physics and organ chem in U.S

Now I am really to apply this cycle, with GPA 3.85, MCAT 32 and tons of clinical/researching experience. But I am not sure if my lack of some U.S pre-req will ruin my application??!!..Should I retake one year of general chem also? will medical school strictly select applicants from pre-req or on a case-by case situation? I mean I have all the courses taken outside of US....

Thanks!!

I think you'll need to consult individual schools for questions like these!

Agreed, you should probably ask on a school by school basis. You can poke around the admissions page and see if they talk about stuff like this, but calling is probably easier.

I think this is silly though. If you can score well on the MCAT, I think it demonstrates that you had the proper science background, regardless of where or when the classes were taken.

You will have to check each school's individual requirements for admission. I'm sorry to say that most schools require you to have obtained a bachelor's degree from an accredited US college or university.

Originally Posted by kestralray

Agreed, you should probably ask on a school by school basis. You can poke around the admissions page and see if they talk about stuff like this, but calling is probably easier.

I think this is silly though. If you can score well on the MCAT, I think it demonstrates that you had the proper science background, regardless of where or when the classes were taken.

u
thanks for the input, i personally also think a good mcat score and a decent academic record in college and master level will mean that I have the proper science background. however, still have to face the stringent requirement of pre-req. I am worried if applicants lack the completion of pre-req will be automatically filtered out even without any one looking at the profile and make a decision case by case.....

They are criteria for a reason...

Originally Posted by Ironmandoc

They are criteria for a reason...

What does that mean? its sounds ominous

Originally Posted by yusanshui

u
thanks for the input, i personally also think a good mcat score and a decent academic record in college and master level will mean that I have the proper science background. however, still have to face the stringent requirement of pre-req. I am worried if applicants lack the completion of pre-req will be automatically filtered out even without any one looking at the profile and make a decision case by case.....

that could very well happen.

If you decide to apply, make sure that you have several native English speakers read over your personal statement and secondary essays. You have a lot of grammatical errors in your posts. Unfortunately, you may have an uphill battle this cycle. Are you by chance an American citizen or permanent resident?